Bicycle Brahs Part 3 - Riding is our leg day (literally bicycle)

[Cadet4life]

early morning and evening rides are so goat. i love summer.

[kethnaab]

Super hot Saturday at the Vermont Gran Fondo. 114miles and 10,700' of climbing. Managed to stay on the bike even as grade tipped 24% on the Lincoln Gap. Could not have done it without my 11-34 cassette. Count me in again next year

[img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1768/43170842301_7e417715ec_k.jpg[img]

Many miles of dirt/ravel along with some of the best paved roads I've had the pleasure of riding. Some very long and open descents.

[img]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/917/28301387137_0da6409d61_k.jpg[img]

dayam, 10k+ of climbing? Badass. 24% is crazy steep. Some of the new Cdale SuperXs will be coming with Ultegra 11-34t cassettes

[MoeBettuh]

Ayywuddup, I have a dilemma about which new bike to buy. I have wanted a new bike for like 6 years and every year I talk myself out of it. Not this year.

I will be primarily riding bike trails (20 miles min) and also want to use the bike for things like going to the gym and grocery store and to in-town events like baseball games, etc. or riding for exercise and obviously just for fun. I am not planning to do huge club rides, but I know some guys who ride and I could see them talking me into doing some group rides in the future, idk. There is also a chance that someday I will ride RAGBRAI and a very good chance that I will plan some small trips around bike rides/trails. The bike I currently ride is a hybrid (Giant Escape 1) and I typically ride it in increments of 7 miles (14-28) just for exercise. I haven't ridden it this summer because it's been very rainy and I'm not in love with it since it is not quite the right size.

Anyway, I was ready to buy a Cannondale Quick a few weeks ago, but didn't have my wallet with me (had forgotten it in my office) and so that weekend I went on the internet and got to looking at other options available from the same lbs. That's when I noticed the Bianchi Strada. I like that it is a steel frame and fork (I don't need it to be super light, and I do like the ride properties of steel) and that it seemed to have pretty thin tires. I also like that it will allow me to mount a rear rack if I so choose. E-mailed the lbs, said I don't want the Cannondale, lmk if you have a Strada. They said they don't have one in stock, but I should come ride the Volpe they have in stock and see if I like the frame and if I do, they can order a Strada for me.

Went in and liked the Volpe - it is basically a Strada with drop bars and a Tiagra groupset instead of the Claris. They have had the Volpe for 5 years (it's an unsold 2013 model) and it comes with upgraded tires. Originals were cyclocross like 35mm knobby tires, these are like 32mm Continentals that the dude at the lbs was saying were very good tires and were a definite upgrade over stock on either the Strada or Volpe. Dude says he can order me the Strada if I want, it will cost MSRP. He will also sell me the Volpe for the same price if I want. Volpe was originally MSRP of $500 more than the Strada and as I mentioned, it is Tiagra instead of Claris. The question I have is how much better (if at all) is a 2013 Tiagra set vs a 2018 Claris set? I understand bike components have a trickle down effect where something like this year's 105 is next year's Tiagra (not necessarily all the time, but I think that's sort of the nature of how components progress). I'm wondering if a 5 year old but still new Tiagra set is still better than a new Claris set in the end.

[ErikTheElectric]

Ayywuddup, I have a dilemma about which new bike to buy. I have wanted a new bike for like 6 years and every year I talk myself out of it. Not this year.

I will be primarily riding bike trails (20 miles min) and also want to use the bike for things like going to the gym and grocery store and to in-town events like baseball games, etc. or riding for exercise and obviously just for fun. I am not planning to do huge club rides, but I know some guys who ride and I could see them talking me into doing some group rides in the future, idk. There is also a chance that someday I will ride RAGBRAI and a very good chance that I will plan some small trips around bike rides/trails. The bike I currently ride is a hybrid (Giant Escape 1) and I typically ride it in increments of 7 miles (14-28) just for exercise. I haven't ridden it this summer because it's been very rainy and I'm not in love with it since it is not quite the right size.

Anyway, I was ready to buy a Cannondale Quick a few weeks ago, but didn't have my wallet with me (had forgotten it in my office) and so that weekend I went on the internet and got to looking at other options available from the same lbs. That's when I noticed the Bianchi Strada. I like that it is a steel frame and fork (I don't need it to be super light, and I do like the ride properties of steel) and that it seemed to have pretty thin tires. I also like that it will allow me to mount a rear rack if I so choose. E-mailed the lbs, said I don't want the Cannondale, lmk if you have a Strada. They said they don't have one in stock, but I should come ride the Volpe they have in stock and see if I like the frame and if I do, they can order a Strada for me.

Went in and liked the Volpe - it is basically a Strada with drop bars and a Tiagra groupset instead of the Claris. They have had the Volpe for 5 years (it's an unsold 2013 model) and it comes with upgraded tires. Originals were cyclocross like 35mm knobby tires, these are like 32mm Continentals that the dude at the lbs was saying were very good tires and were a definite upgrade over stock on either the Strada or Volpe. Dude says he can order me the Strada if I want, it will cost MSRP. He will also sell me the Volpe for the same price if I want. Volpe was originally MSRP of $500 more than the Strada and as I mentioned, it is Tiagra instead of Claris. The question I have is how much better (if at all) is a 2013 Tiagra set vs a 2018 Claris set? I understand bike components have a trickle down effect where something like this year's 105 is next year's Tiagra (not necessarily all the time, but I think that's sort of the nature of how components progress). I'm wondering if a 5 year old but still new Tiagra set is still better than a new Claris set in the end.

Probably won't see that much of a difference.

[MoeBettuh]

Probably won't see that much of a difference.

K...if the groupset is appx the same, is it worth buying an older bike (and accordingly older brake pads) to get the benefit of the drop bar? If not, I am inclined to just get the Strada.


ETA: I'm not going to base any decisions on brake pads...

[Idioteque]

He wants to sell you a 2013 bike for only $500 dollars off a brand new 2018? No way...

Claris by now is probably better than the 2013 Tiagra.

I wouldn't buy a 2013 bike unless its exactly what I wanted and was like 1/2 off...

Nothing structurally wrong with an older bike but you're likely to get better cable routing, maybe a carbon fork, better looking/color schemes (maybe), and if you ever want to resale, it will be easier to offload the newer bike vs. the older.

These are depreciating toys.

[kethnaab]

He wants to sell you a 2013 bike for only $500 dollars off a brand new 2018? No way...

Claris by now is probably better than the 2013 Tiagra.

I wouldn't buy a 2013 bike unless its exactly what I wanted and was like 1/2 off...

Nothing structurally wrong with an older bike but you're likely to get better cable routing, maybe a carbon fork, better looking/color schemes (maybe), and if you ever want to resale, it will be easier to offload the newer bike vs. the older.

These are depreciating toys.

this is what I thought. $500 off? Pfftttt....I got a 2012 bike in 2016 for nearly 50% off (just shy, $1900 msrp down to $1000)

Claris is notably worse than Tiagra.
2018 Claris is almost definitely going to be better than 2013 Tiagra.
I'm not sure I'd trust that LBS if they're trying to pawn an older bike off on you for "such a great deal"

[MoeBettuh]

He wants to sell you a 2013 bike for only $500 dollars off a brand new 2018? No way...

Claris by now is probably better than the 2013 Tiagra.

I wouldn't buy a 2013 bike unless its exactly what I wanted and was like 1/2 off...

Nothing structurally wrong with an older bike but you're likely to get better cable routing, maybe a carbon fork, better looking/color schemes (maybe), and if you ever want to resale, it will be easier to offload the newer bike vs. the older.

These are depreciating toys.

Thanks for the input. They are essentially the same bike (which is exactly what I want) but one has a drop bar and 2013 Tiagra set and the other is a flat bar with 2018 Claris.

this is what I thought. $500 off? Pfftttt....I got a 2012 bike in 2016 for nearly 50% off (just shy, $1900 msrp down to $1000)

Claris is notably worse than Tiagra.
2018 Claris is almost definitely going to be better than 2013 Tiagra.
I'm not sure I'd trust that LBS if they're trying to pawn an older bike off on you for "such a great deal"

Seems like everyone who has had an opinion so far thinks the newer Claris components are better than the older Tiagra. I do want to point out that the lbs isn't making any assertions about the Volpe being "such a great deal" (I am not sure where you're quoting that from). He simply was saying that the price the new Strada would be is what he could do on the older Volpe. I'm not put off by them offering to discount an old stock bike at all. I'm essentially asking you guys if it is in fact a great deal. Seems like it's ~$100 or so away from that.

With that in mind, I think I'm going to ask the lbs to discount the older bike further to help me make a decision.

[HMFIC_BROWSIN]

Blew a rear spoke near the end of a little 36 miler yesterday (drive-side spoke). My bike is now in limp-mode for the rest of my vacation lol.

I disengaged the rear brake due to a Xtreme levels of rim wobble. Cassette tools/spokes are at home.

Oh well...

[kethnaab]

ok peeps.

I'm 1 week out from a 200-miler. It occurred to me that neither my garmin nor my phone will last that long, as I plan on using the mapping and the location beacon so my wife can be my "directeur sportif" and know where I'm at during the ride.

anyone here confident in a good portable battery-pack to charge these devices (or at least, keep them charged) for what should be a 12-14 hour ride (I'll be riding with some friends so I'll be moving at their pace)
Ideally, it'll be a simple USB type thing that I can just charge ahead of time, and then keep in a top tube bag during the ride

[SkepticalOne]

ok peeps.

I'm 1 week out from a 200-miler. It occurred to me that neither my garmin nor my phone will last that long, as I plan on using the mapping and the location beacon so my wife can be my "directeur sportif" and know where I'm at during the ride.

anyone here confident in a good portable battery-pack to charge these devices (or at least, keep them charged) for what should be a 12-14 hour ride (I'll be riding with some friends so I'll be moving at their pace)
Ideally, it'll be a simple USB type thing that I can just charge ahead of time, and then keep in a top tube bag during the ride

Garmin will last that long if you turn off bluetooth and keep in power save mode. Screen will remain off until you actuate the device t which point it will display as per usual...it will go back to sleep several seconds later.

I bring a small charger for my iPhone which I leave in airplane mode between rest stops. Never had to use the backup battery (yet).

Without power save and airplane mode, both devices are dead within a few hours.

[SkepticalOne]

Blew a rear spoke near the end of a little 36 miler yesterday (drive-side spoke). My bike is now in limp-mode for the rest of my vacation lol.

I disengaged the rear brake due to a Xtreme levels of rim wobble. Cassette tools/spokes are at home.

Oh well...

Perhaps your bike's way of asking for a new wheel set

[Nerve_Damage]

ok peeps.

I'm 1 week out from a 200-miler. It occurred to me that neither my garmin nor my phone will last that long, as I plan on using the mapping and the location beacon so my wife can be my "directeur sportif" and know where I'm at during the ride.

anyone here confident in a good portable battery-pack to charge these devices (or at least, keep them charged) for what should be a 12-14 hour ride (I'll be riding with some friends so I'll be moving at their pace)
Ideally, it'll be a simple USB type thing that I can just charge ahead of time, and then keep in a top tube bag during the ride

I use small 5000Mah portable battery pack that I always take with me on long/endurance rides. it's light and not bulky at all.

That being said, I use Wahoo Elemnt and it lasts for 10h with GPS/bluetooth enabled. I did 240km last year in something like 9.5h and it still had some juice left. My personal opinion but Wahoo > Garmin for bike computers.

[camaleom]

ok peeps.

I'm 1 week out from a 200-miler. It occurred to me that neither my garmin nor my phone will last that long, as I plan on using the mapping and the location beacon so my wife can be my "directeur sportif" and know where I'm at during the ride.

anyone here confident in a good portable battery-pack to charge these devices (or at least, keep them charged) for what should be a 12-14 hour ride (I'll be riding with some friends so I'll be moving at their pace)
Ideally, it'll be a simple USB type thing that I can just charge ahead of time, and then keep in a top tube bag during the ride

gluck man, let us know how it goes!!!!

[Num3n]

Looking to 'finally' buy some carbon wheels. Aero is everything so I'm less concerned about weight and more about aerodynamics. Needs to have great breaking power and also of course be fast/aerodynamic. Also I want them to be tubeless ready and I'm hoping to get these before the ironman at the end of the month.

Currently leaning towards the newish Mavic wheelset, the Comete Pro Carbon SL UST. They are fairly deep though so perhaps I should get something a little more shallow, not sure.


open to suggestions and recommendations for where to buy from here in Canada.

[wasp9166]

starting to think the brooks b17 isn't for me , i've got 100 miles on it and between my azz and nuts still kills me after 30 miles or so

even in the rapha, which i read really shouldn't be worn when trying to break it in

think i'm gonna have bike shop measure my sit bones

[kethnaab]

I use small 5000Mah portable battery pack that I always take with me on long/endurance rides. it's light and not bulky at all.

That being said, I use Wahoo Elemnt and it lasts for 10h with GPS/bluetooth enabled. I did 240km last year in something like 9.5h and it still had some juice left. My personal opinion but Wahoo > Garmin for bike computers.

gluck man, let us know how it goes!!!!

yeah, i'm probably going to grab an Element soon enough, but I don't want to switch $hit the week before a 200-miler.
I ended up getting this guy here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X5RV14Y/

it has 2 USB ports and seems to be able to maintain a charge for a long time.
Reason I want to keep things going is because I want to be able to use Strava beacon, which requires bluetooth and GPS enabled, with map screen up a good bit of the time as well as turn-by-turn.
Basically, I want to use the 'full features' of the Garmin in concert with my phone.

Looking to 'finally' buy some carbon wheels. Aero is everything so I'm less concerned about weight and more about aerodynamics. Needs to have great breaking power and also of course be fast/aerodynamic. Also I want them to be tubeless ready and I'm hoping to get these before the ironman at the end of the month.

Currently leaning towards the newish Mavic wheelset, the Comete Pro Carbon SL UST. They are fairly deep though so perhaps I should get something a little more shallow, not sure.
open to suggestions and recommendations for where to buy from here in Canada.

good braking power?
Road disc is the answer!

[ErikTheElectric]

Looking to 'finally' buy some carbon wheels. Aero is everything so I'm less concerned about weight and more about aerodynamics. Needs to have great breaking power and also of course be fast/aerodynamic. Also I want them to be tubeless ready and I'm hoping to get these before the ironman at the end of the month.

Currently leaning towards the newish Mavic wheelset, the Comete Pro Carbon SL UST. They are fairly deep though so perhaps I should get something a little more shallow, not sure.


open to suggestions and recommendations for where to buy from here in Canada.

Brb climbing most of the time, lol.

[Num3n]

Brb climbing most of the time, lol.

we have lots of mountains and hills where I live, perhaps similar to you. However I do ride flats a lot, and will be doing the ironman which is a hilly course but would still benefit from having aero wheels. Also my stock weeks are 1.71kg and even deep dish aero wheels are sub 1.6kg. So I'll be saving on weight regardless

[ErikTheElectric]

+They look bada$$

[Num3n]

+They look bada$$

haha yes very true. also does anyone have any good articles on aero savings from wheels? I suppose i'm not 100% decided because I'd like some ironclad proof of aerodynamic gains before taking such a massive plunge

[ErikTheElectric]

Really depends on what your goals are, and if you truly will use them for their purpose.

IMO, you really shouldn't invest in specific "aero" wheels if you're doing large amounts of climbing + extremely high distances, you'd be better suited for a carbon rim without the deep dish.

[Num3n]

Really depends on what your goals are, and if you truly will use them for their purpose.

IMO, you really shouldn't invest in specific "aero" wheels if you're doing large amounts of climbing + extremely high distances, you'd be better suited for a carbon rim without the deep dish.

i'm not sure if the ones i linked are specific to 1 discipline as I'm not that informed. I know zipp claims that their 404's are the most all around wheelset. I guess I'm looking for an all purpose wheelset. Nothing too deep or too shallow.

[ChewYourFood]

we have lots of mountains and hills where I live, perhaps similar to you. However I do ride flats a lot, and will be doing the ironman which is a hilly course but would still benefit from having aero wheels. Also my stock weeks are 1.71kg and even deep dish aero wheels are sub 1.6kg. So I'll be saving on weight regardless

What Ironman course are you doing? What's your training look like?

[taf1968]

Well, so far I have gotten the mountain bike out 3 times in the last 2 weeks to ride . . . which is 3 times more often that it has gotten out the last couple years. Lame, I know, but at least I am trying in baby steps. Been doing a short loop right around the immediate neighborhood, but it's pretty much all uphill the first half of the ride and then runs around a greenbelt, so it's really getting my HR going on that. Will work my way up to longer rides just as something to help get into better shape.

Bike is a older Giant NRS-3 that I picked up on CL in 2014 (I think the bike is a 2004??). It hadn't been ridden much at all and was a considerable step up from the much older, beat to hell Stump Jumper hardtail that I bought off a friend many years ago.

[RobParks2M]

Well, so far I have gotten the mountain bike out 3 times in the last 2 weeks to ride . . . which is 3 times more often that it has gotten out the last couple years. Lame, I know, but at least I am trying in baby steps. Been doing a short loop right around the immediate neighborhood, but it's pretty much all uphill the first half of the ride and then runs around a greenbelt, so it's really getting my HR going on that. Will work my way up to longer rides just as something to help get into better shape.

Bike is a older Giant NRS-3 that I picked up on CL in 2014 (I think the bike is a 2004??). It hadn't been ridden much at all and was a considerable step up from the much older, beat to hell Stump Jumper hardtail that I bought off a friend many years ago.

Nice! have you headed up into the mountains at all? I've gone up a couple times the last week or 2 and it has been a blast. I just got into it back in May

[ChewYourFood]

Well, so far I have gotten the mountain bike out 3 times in the last 2 weeks to ride . . . which is 3 times more often that it has gotten out the last couple years. Lame, I know, but at least I am trying in baby steps. Been doing a short loop right around the immediate neighborhood, but it's pretty much all uphill the first half of the ride and then runs around a greenbelt, so it's really getting my HR going on that. Will work my way up to longer rides just as something to help get into better shape.

Bike is a older Giant NRS-3 that I picked up on CL in 2014 (I think the bike is a 2004??). It hadn't been ridden much at all and was a considerable step up from the much older, beat to hell Stump Jumper hardtail that I bought off a friend many years ago.

Stick with it!

My first ride on Strava in 2014 was 4.6 miles with my mountain bike that I had since middle school.

Now I have a road bike and I have ridden 143.1 miles since last Sunday. Aiming for 200 mile weeks this summer. You can absolutely do this if you want to.

[taf1968]

Nice! have you headed up into the mountains at all? I've gone up a couple times the last week or 2 and it has been a blast. I just got into it back in May

Been a long time since I have been up in the mountains. Eventually I will probably venture up there. Lots of good riding from what I understand . . . I just haven't investigated it much. A few years ago I went up to Deer Creek Canyon with a buddy and rode that, which was pretty cool. There's supposed to be some pretty nice trails over here in Highlands Ranch that I need to build up to and check out.

I'm still very much a noob with the mountain biking. I've dabbled with riding a little bit here and there over the years but just never really did more that that, despite intentions to do so. Other things just seemed to get in the way, including procrastination. I have friends who are pretty serious about it and they have taken me on a couple adventures. One was a weekend trip to Fruita several years back, which was awesome--but I am so far below their level that I couldn't keep up and just kind of did what I could.

Those same guys later that year convinced me to to to Moab with them. They took me on Porcupine Rim, which was WAY above my level. I fought through it and actually fractured my wrist in a over-the-bars wreck with before we hit the single track portion. Thought I just jammed it really bad, but I rode all the way down and didn't know I broke it til we got back to Denver a few days later.

[taf1968]

Stick with it!

My first ride on Strava in 2014 was 4.6 miles with my mountain bike that I had since middle school.

Now I have a road bike and I have ridden 143.1 miles since last Sunday. Aiming for 200 mile weeks this summer. You can absolutely do this if you want to.

Yeah, I need to just keep working on it and build up the endurance and my legs. I downloaded Strava a couple years ago but hadn't even used it til this week. The loop I did is only 3 miles, but it has about 200 ft of elevation gain, which is all on the first half of the ride. Then it cuts through a pretty nice little trail system that loops back to my house. I figure I'll kind of work my way out from that with the other trails around here and some of the roads.

I was laughing at where I was at on some of the segments. I am 348/379 on that uphill . . . man, that sucks. Just in the granny gear and sitting all the way up grinding it out. At least I am only 69/178 on that trail cut-through and I shaved 2 mins off my total time from the first ride. LOL.

[ChewYourFood]

I was laughing at where I was at on some of the segments. I am 348/379 on that uphill . . . man, that sucks. Just in the granny gear and sitting all the way up grinding it out. At least I am only 69/178 on that trail cut-through and I shaved 2 mins off my total time from the first ride. LOL.

Know these feels.

Makes it all the better the first time another rider thanks you for a tow up a big hill. The more I ride, the flatter the World has become.